364 MONCECIA POLYAKDKIA. [cL. XXI. 



merits, containing two or three flowers ; the inner superior, of 

 one leaf, with five or six deep segments, internally woolly. 

 Corolla none. Germens two or three, below the inner calyx, 

 egg-shaped, compressed or angular, three or six -celled, with 

 rudiments of two seeds in each cell. Styles three or six, short ; 

 stigmas oblong, undivided, permanent. Nuts two or three, 

 egg-shaped, more or less angular, leathery, one-celled, attached 

 to the base of the outer calyx, and crowned by the upper. 

 Kernels one, two, or three. Name from phago, to eat. 440. 



1. F. Castdnea. Chestnut Tree. Leaves lance-shaped, acutely 

 serrate, smooth beneath. ; prickles of the calyx compound and en- 

 tangled ; stigmas six. A large tree, with widely spreading 



branches. The wood is used for the same purpose as oak. The 

 kernels are wholesome and agreeable. Flowers in. May : grows in 

 woods in the south of England : frequent. Eng. Bot. vol. xiii. pi. 

 886. Eng. Fl. vol. iv. p. 151. 1367. 



2. F. sylvdtica. Common Beech. Leaves egg-shaped, indistinctly 

 serrate, smooth ; prickles of the outer calyx simple ; stigmas three". 



A large tree, with smooth bark and spreading branches. The 



nuts fatten hogs, and are eaten by squirrels, wood-pigeons, and 

 other wild animals. Flowers in April and May : grows in woods : 

 common. Eng, Bot. vol. xxvi. pi. 1846. 1368. 



22. BE'TULA. BIRCH. 



Barren Flowers. -Catkin cylindrical, loose, imbricated all 

 round, with ternate, concave scales, the middle one largest, egg- 

 shaped. Corolla none. Filaments from ten to twelve, shorter 

 than the scale ; anthers roundish, two-lobed. 



Fertile Flowers. Catkin cylindrical, dense; scales peltate, 

 dilated outwards, three-lobed, three -flowered. Corolla none. 

 Germen compressed, bordered, two-celled. Styles tAvo, awl- 

 shaped, downy; stigmas simple. Nut oblong, deciduous, 

 winged, one-celled. Kernel solitary. Name, from betu, Celtic 

 for birch. 441. 



1. B. alba. Common Birch. Leaves egg-shaped, acute, unequally 



serrate, nearly smooth. A rather tall tree, with a white cuticle, 



peeling transversely, the twigs very slender and more or less droop- 

 ing. The wood is hard and white. Flowers in April and May : 

 grows abundantly in extensive natural woods in the Highlands of 

 Scotland, as well as in other parts of the country. Eng. Bot. vol. 

 xxxi. pi. 2198. Eng. Fl. vol. iv. p. 153. 1369. 



2. JB. ndna. Dwarf Birch. Leaves round, crenate, reticulated 



with veins beneath. A shrub rarely exceeding two feet in height. 



Grows on the sides of some of the higher Scottish mountains, as 

 Ben Lawers and the Braemar mountains. Eng. Bot. vol. xxxiii. pi. 

 2326. En^. J7.voLiv. p. 154. 1370. 



23, CARPI'NUS. HORNBEAM. 



Barren Flowers. Catkin cylindrical, loose, imbricated all 

 round, with egg-shaped, acute, fringed, single-flowered scales, 

 accompanied by three smaller inner ones. Corolla none. Fila- 



